Dainius Žalimas appointed head of Lithuania's Constitutional Court

On Thursday, 85 Lithuanian lawmakers voted in favour of his appointment, 10 were against and 12 abstained. Three voting ballots were deemed invalid.

His appointment had already been backed by the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs and the majority of the political groups in the Seimas.

Introducing himself to members of the parliament earlier this week, Žalimas said stepping up the hearing of cases and clearer presentation of the Constitutional Court's rulings would be one of his priorities.

Under the Constitution of Lithuania, the president of the Constitutional Court is selected from the court's justices and appointed by the Seimas upon the nomination of the president.

An expert of international law and a professor at Vilnius University, Žalimas has been acting president of the Constitutional Court after the three-year term of the court's previous President Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis ended earlier this year.

Žalimas has taken part in EU and other international research projects related to human rights, democratization and honouring the memory of victims of totalitarian crimes, as well as provided expert opinions, worked as Lithuania's representative to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

He has greatly contributed to the research of the international and constitutional legal basis for the restoration of Lithuania's independence on March 11, 1990, and made major contribution in the area of Lithuania's NATO integration.